On making things work and being responsible

There's something going on in my house, and I am not so sure I like it.

For the past two nights, Miles has been up several times. It's not the kind of wakings we're used to - the ones where he will stand in his crib talking or singing "round and round all through the time." The disruptions we've had the past two nights involve lots of screaming and inconsolable crying.

Wednesday night, Miles was up at 10:45, midnight and 2:30. At 2:30, as I rocked him, he pulled out his pacifier and said "cookie" through tears followed by "snack" (his word for cereal bars). He had eaten poorly that night, and I wondered whether it was just hunger. I took him downstairs, gave him a cup of milk and half a cereal bar as I changed his diaper. The cereal bar did little to dry the tears as he cried for another 5 minutes after I put him down.

Trying for a better night Thursday, we made sure Miles ate a bit better at dinner and gave him a big cup of milk before bed. There was no way he was going to be waking up hungry. Like clockwork, though, he was up at 10:45. Mark and I tried all that we could but ended up bringing him to bed. Until 2:30 when we could no longer take the feet in the groin and fingers in the eye. There was more crying but after what I'm sure was not as long as it felt, he fell asleep.

And though we did get back to sleep, it was not enough and when I rolled over at 5:10 - the time when I was supposed to be getting up for a hill workout - I knew it wasn't going to happen. I thought I'd try again when Mark got up but the comfort of the couch called to me. As I laid there, the scenarios began to run through my head: RAW this morning, run tonight; call in late and do RAW + run at the YMCA; go to RAW and push run to tomorrow afternoon; get up early tomorrow, run and then lead BODYPUMP launch.

The ideas swirled at lightning speed - quite an amazing feat for my brain considering my fatigue - but I knew there was one option that was better than the others: skip RAW and runt his morning between dropping Miles off at daycare and going to work.

I made it with a heavy heart. Not only have the RAW workouts become a beloved part of my routine the past month but it would probably be my last class.

Our trial membership to the YMCA ends on Wednesday and after much discussion and creative thinking, Mark and I know that it's not the right time for us to add another monthly bill. It might be different if we didn't have access to a treadmill and were going to use it daily but it as difficult to justify the cost when we were using it for three group classes a week.

It totally sucks. I love the class, the instructor and the group exercise environment, and I almost feel like I'm doing the instructor a disservice. It was also a good learning experience for me as I look toward maybe, just maybe, getting a personal training certificate. But what's a girl to do?

Well, I guess there are some things. I have Bob Harper's "Total Body Transformation," which will be good for strength training; Turbo Fire has some longer HIIT workouts that will have some of the cardio conditioning benefits of RAW; and I've put out a Facebook plea for Insanity in he event that someone has a set collecting dust.

Oh, and then there's Zuzka Light. Nothing like having a hot Russian with enormously fake ta-tas make you do round after round of burpees. Now if she could only put Miles to sleep.

Note: I don't mention finances to garner sympathy. It's just a fact that money is tight, and it's tight for a lot of people.

Spring Training: Week 2

Spring Training posts document my training for the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon on March 30 and my "A" race, the Wisconsin Marathon half, on May 4.

The week, in training:

Monday: 4.5 miles, hill sprints (6 x 45 seconds at 7.0, 7% incline)
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 4.25 miles, tempo + RAW class
Thursday: 8 miles
Friday: RAW
Saturday: Bodypump + 4-mile run
Sunday: 1.5-mile walk + 25 minutes (of 40) TurboFire stretch

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I've written about five different versions of this blog, trying to expand on one aspect of last week's training. But my brain is tired and so is my body, especially after 5.5 miles of hills on the treadmill this morning.

Tired Kim = Bad, uninspired writer.

Trust me. I nearly wrote an ode to Dairy Queen ice cream cake and medium long runs, which, as you can see, are decidedly missing from this week's log.

So help a girl out. Get up with Miles tomorrow morning and go to work for me and I'll ... ha. Just kidding. Ask me some questions - about my training for the upcoming races, BODYPUMP, cross training, whatever.

I look forward to answering them (and being more clever next week).

Fit to be tried: At home workouts

With the new year - and its resolutions - rapidly approaching, I'm highlighting some of my favorite fit things of 2012. 

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I woke up at 5 a.m., just two minutes shy of my alarm. I was surprisingly alert and ready for the day as I rolled out of bed, leggings and tank already on, and headed downstairs. I made myself half a mini bagel with homemade nut butter and gulped a glass or two of water before grabbing my laptop and heading to the basement for class.

Class being Turbo Fire in my quite scenic unfinished basement.

But as I inserted the DVD for the day's workout, I was disappointed - mad, even - to discover that the DVD drive on my laptop was on the fritz. I tried a different workout and still no dice. Ready to give up on exercising for the day, I turned around and discovered I had an old pair of running shoes next to the treadmill. I begrudgingly laced up for a 6-mile sweatfest.

While running will always be my first love, I've come to enjoy adding DVDs to mix things up, improve cardio conditioning and build strength. They are also great options when the weather turns frigid or the skies open up or wee ones are sick.

Turbo Fire. When I came off the marathon and headed into late fall, I made it a goal to focus on cross training to improve my cardio fitness in the vain hope that it would translate to faster runs. I had considered investing in Insanity (and it really is an investment) and trying my hand at what I could find at the library. However, as fate would have it, a Facebook acquaintance posted a deal for TurboFire. For $53, one would get more than 10 DVDs, a resistance band, meal plan and workout schedule - a program that regularly retails for $119.

It was definitely an impulse purchase but one that I don't regret. Not one bit.The workouts are fun yet challenging, and I've been surprised by just how not annoyed I am with Chalene Johnson. I like her delivery, instruction style and the class atmosphere of the DVDs. From the workouts, I've noticed more definition in my back from the punching, and I truly believe the HIIT workouts helped me bring home a PR in the 10K

There are two strength workouts that use a resistance band - sculpt and tone - but I don't find them to be challenging enough, and I find some of the moves to be awkward.

Bob Harper's Total Body Transformation. This workout is tough. Super tough. The workout is a total body one, utilizing compound movements and weights to build strength and cardio endurance. It's an hour of lunges, arms and abs.  And, if you can get past a few things, it's definitely worth giving it a go.

Those things? Slow order processing and delivery, Bob's cargo shorts and some bad form on the part of the other people in the video.

Jillian Michaels' "Get Ripped in 30." Everyone seemed to love Jillian Michaels' "30-Day Shred," and this workout builds on that model. There are four workouts, meant to daily for one week before moving onto the next, and are about 25, 30 minutes in length. She leads the workouts in a circuit style - 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs.

And even though I feel like they shouldn't be hard, they are. I like to do a Jillian workout when I need a bit of resistance training but don't have the time to rehearse BODYPUMP. It also allows me the chance to lift a bit heavier than I would to improve overall performance.

Of course I have tried others - a ballet inspired promo and yoga workouts - but these were the ones that stuck. And, if they stick, they are a good investment. Or so says Mark.

My so-called life, in photos

The holidays are around the corner (or tomorrow). Things are about to get crazy. And yet, we still have life day to day.

I know it feels like I just did a day in the life post but the truth is our schedule has changed since then. A lot. 

5:02 a.m. The alarm goes off. I stumble out of bed, hit the ladies room and eat half of a mini bagel before heading to the basement. NO, I don't change out of my pajamas because my pajamas were workout clothes.

5:15 a.m. Fire up Turbo Fire's Fire 45 workout. Yeah, I was on fire.

5:20 a.m. Glance over and see Mark hop on the treadmill.

6 a.m. Decide to skip the Stretch 10 portion of the program.

6:01 a.m. Check the weather and see that is in the balmy mid-40s. I wonder if Miles will wake up in time for us to squeeze in a few miles.

6:15 a.m. Make a small breakfast in the hope that the run will happen: 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/3 banana sliced, 1/2 T raw almond butter and a sprinkle of coconut and cinnamon.

6:57 a.m. Realize that my miles have been thwarted by a tired Miles and opt to take a bath. I read three chapters of "The Silver Linings Playbook" and try to be quiet.

7:15 a.m. Miles is awake. I pick him up, make him surrender the paci and take him downstairs.

7:20 a.m. My spirited child decides that playing with Denali's KONG is a far more exciting thing than getting a diaper change.

7:30 a.m. Breakfast. Miles gets a whole wheat banana pancake with peanut butter while I make a veggie egg white scramble with pepper jack cheese. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him stand up in the chair and try to step onto the stove. I give him a piece of sausage to distract him.

7:45 a.m. Turn on "Bob the Builder" and hold Miles while I eat.

8 a.m. Begin the hourlong frenzy of trying to clean, do dishes, play with Miles, put away laundry, do laundry and get ready for work. Miles plays with blocks happily and tries to drink my "coppee." I should probably be less proud that Miles knows what coffee is.

9:05 a.m. Put my bags by the door and put a coat on Miles. I realize that not only does he not have shoes on but I can't find them. Make an executive decision to put him in snow boots for daycare.

9:20 a.m. Drop off Miles at daycare but only after putting a sock and his boots back on.

9:30 a.m. Arrive at work. Drink coffee. Do work stuff.

11:45 a.m. Go to lunch with my work husband at the hospital across the street. I end up with a black bean burger on a wheat bun, sauteed summer squash and red bean and rice soup. Not the smartest selection, I realize, as I'm planning turkey burgers for dinner.

1:17 p.m. Take a brief moment to start on a Brooks Running wish list. I'll send it to Mark but I do it more in an effort to win some stuff.

1:20 p.m. Work. Attend my second and third meetings of the day. Snack on an apple with raw almond butter, celery sticks and dry roasted edamame.

5:35 p.m. Arrive home. The only perk of working 37.5 hour work weeks is working 7.5 hours each day. I kiss Mark and Miles and as I look over my shoulder, I discover a box on the table. It turns out I received a shipment of Grapples. I take a big whiff before getting started on dinner. We're having turkey burgers, and the guys have some roasted potato wedges while I have a salad with a balsamic vinegar-dijon mustard mix.

5:55 p.m. Dinner is on the table, and I revel in silence that Miles is actually eating in his chair. We've had issues at dinner with him wanting to either not eat or only eat on our laps and from our plates.

6:20 p.m. While Mark cleans up, Miles and I head upstairs to pack for our upcoming trip to Cincinnati.

7 p.m. Miles is ready for bed, and I'm ready for a run. Mark puts him down while Denali and I head out for 3 miles.

8 p.m. Turn on Ken Burns' "Civil War" on Netflix and nod off.